Standby for Battle
by MissBesanii
Summary: I'd met him way back in his Hoenn days, he laughed at me back then and I was too smitten to stand up for myself. Now he'll see my true potential as I take him on with a six on six battle. Shinji vs. Besanii.


I turned my face away when I realised my cheeks were heating up. Half was now a natural reaction when I saw him, the other half was pure rage. He was winding me up again, he always did this before we battled.

"You're going to lose, Besanii-Chan. You always do. You only got through the previous round with luck."

Deep breaths, I reminded myself. One, two, three…

Before I could get to ten, he'd finally pulled his hand out of his pocket and took mine which had been open for the majority of his mockery of me. It took all my willpower to not attempt to crack his hand. Of course, I would be made a fool of because he's far stronger than pint-size me.

"Best of luck, Shinji." I tried to say it a pleasantly as possible, but I found myself spitting his name. He grunted a "likewise," and turned his back on me. Before I could even turn myself I heard him mutter something I couldn't even bother to register, for I'd heard them all before; pathetic, useless, weak, etcetera. I just shot a glare over my shoulder and made my way to my side of the stadium.

I shivered from the shockingly cold wind that blew past me, but I would ignore that soon for I had more important things to think about.

The commentator began his speech as the referee took to his podium. I turned as I reached mine and it raised up slightly so I could see the whole pitch. Shinji's did likewise.

The referee's flags went up; "This will be a six on six match. The trainer with the most remaining Pokémon standing will be declared the winner…" I'd heard all of it before, I was heavily focussed on the grinning boy across the grass field. He looked far too smug for my liking.

"And begin!"

Shinji released his Pokémon first, his confident voice boomed over to me; "Magmortar! Standby!"

A fire type, I considered my water type but that would be too obvious. So I settled on the old saying; "Fight fire with fire! Camerupt, go!"

Yes, I am from Hoenn, Shinji had met me there when he challenged me to a battle in Slateport City. I'd been travelling there to reach Dewford town.

He waved his hand to let me go first, he may be a jerk but for some reason he was always gentlemanly. Of course, I was not going to refuse an opening; "Stealth Rock." Oh yes, I'd had this one heavily planned out.

"Sunny Day!" Magmortar shot a huge light orb towards the sky, and the sun intensified so much that the breeze was now a blessing. It looked like we were both setting up our Pokémon for battle before we actually started.

Naturally, I was done first, so I decided whilst it was there, I should use the sun Shinji had given me; "Eruption!"

Shinji did nothing, I'd gotten used to his strategy of if the Pokémon can't take an attack, it isn't worth keeping. It used to anger me, but I'd given up telling him. Magmortar simply crossed its cannon-arms and braced for the large molten rocks.

"Earthquake!" He retaliated, I knew that the only advantage either had on each other was ground type moves. My Pokémon however, was that type, and I could give better than he could; "You too, Camerupt!"

The cracks in the ground collided, ripping at the grass as the floor shattered into the water field. Clearly the combination of attacks were far too powerful for the floor. Plates of earth scattered over the water, both of the bulky Pokémon teetered on the wobbling surfaces.

"Magmortar! Focus Punch!"

I knew this would be my only chance, this one attack would go either way depending on whether my sudden tactic worked. I waited for Magmortar to have pounced off his platform and was too close to Camerupt for it to change its mind before I replied; "Endure!"

Camerupt braced itself as Magmortar landed, I waited until the dust cleared enough for me to see and called; "Giga Impact!"

I was so glad it worked, the power of such a move sent even the largest of Pokémon soaring across the area and into the pool's edge. It then sunk into the water and emerged unconscious.

"Magmortar is unable to battle, the first round goes to Besanii!"

I was more concerned about my Pokémon's welfare; "Are you okay to carry on?" It puffed out a heavy amount of steam from its volcano-like structures on its back. I took that as a yes, it wouldn't last long, but enough to wear out the next Pokémon a little.

I saw Shinji's glare towards me as he threw his next pokeball without a word uttered. I shuddered before I could realise who was up next. My stealth rock was already at work and had huddled around my next opponent.

"Shinji's next Pokémon will be a Nidoking! These two like bulky Pokémon!"

"Water pulse!" Shinji interrupted the commentator's rants and I hissed at the unexpected move. The audience exclaimed in awe.

"Overheat!" I panicked, praying it would work. The two amazing attacks collided and splashed water everywhere, sending both Pokémon into the pool. Camerupt emerged fainted, I returned it and thanked it graciously for its effort.

"Camerupt is unable to battle."

Ground and poison… I racked my brains, it would be weak against water and Ice, but I wanted to save them for later… Which left my other theory; "Medicham! Go!" Hoenn was riddled with psychic types, but this one was my favourite. We'd worked together to create effortless battle techniques, so we could use Shinji's moves to our own advantage.

"Besanii comes out with a Medicham! A light agile Pokémon should use this stage to its advantage." I heard the muffled excitement through the megaphone, I waited patiently as Medicham placed its feet onto the ground and placed one palm into the floor for balance.

"Nidoking! Surf!"

I grinned as he unknowingly played into my strategy; "Ice punch! And then high jump kick!"

"Besanii is using the wave to create an ice shield! Now look! With a high jump kick, the ice shatters right beneath Nidoking's feet!"

"Shadow Claw!" Shinji growled due to the ice shield contorting his view from the battle. I could see everything though and Nidoking had used the ice as a speeding ramp towards Medicham.

"Detect!"

Medicham rose into a meditation pose and missed by mere inches. Nidoking slashed furiously towards Medicham and unfortunately landed as detect is not reliable forever… I should have come up with a plan faster. I growled to myself as Medicham rose up from the water waiting for an order.

The intense sun had made the ice melt faster than I would have liked, I could see Shinji's grinning face already.

"Earthquake!" I heard him shout, I waited as I hoped that the water would take some of the damage of from Medicham, but it just intensified the attack. Medicham leapt up from the water and let out a battle cry.

"Ice punch!"

"Shadow Claw!"

They landed together and recoiled off each other, but as I said before, Shinji's Pokémon were not worthy of his training if they could not take a hit. Medicham was too exhausted.

"Medicham is unable to battle, the round goes to Shinji!"

I let my anger slip as I broke my strategy; "Vaporeon! Go!" Not only was she the most beautiful form Eevee could evolve into, but she was pink. The audience gasped at such a rarity, she was used to that sort of reaction and instead focussed on the battle.

"Earthquake again!" Shinji hissed, and the purple Pokémon stomped its feet heavily onto the platform they shared.

"Dive!" I know, I sound utterly stupid, but I had a plan. Vaporeon has a similar molecule structure to water, and so my theory was that if she moved with the water, she wouldn't feel it so much. Even with her pink sheen, she disappeared completely into the pool. I waited for the water to rise up slightly so I knew where she was. An unnatural shape of water bounced up quickly on the surface, and I nodded; "Now use ice beam!"

Her pink face reappeared on the surface and shot at Nidoking from behind him. I grinned as it collapsed and shattered another rock formation.

"Nidoking is unable to battle."

Of course he would have come up with a way to make my theory backfire. My smile fell as soon as his next Pokémon appeared; an Electivire. I'd known it as an Elekid and it wasn't weak even then. My stealth rock kicked in and knocked it towards the pool, it merely dipped its tail in the pool and static rippled through the waves. Vaporeon cried out and leapt for a rock formation.

"Electivire's static fur has caused Vaporeon to come out of hiding. This has completely ruined Besanii's defences, what will happen now!?"

"Shock wave!" Shinji called quickly, leaving me barely any time to respond. "Aqua Ring!" I squeaked, and I heard Shinji laugh at my fear. Vaporeon braced and desperately tried to heal itself quicker than it was being damaged. It was a long battle of strength versus defence, but the type advantage was just too much for Vaporeon, I couldn't have asked for more from the magnificent creature.

"Vaporeon is unable to battle."

Of course, now I was seething, I wanted to get in there and have a battle myself. I'm sure my fists could cause some damage to his perfect, angry face.

For obvious reasons, I sent out a Pokémon instead. My best to be exact; "Salamence! Let's go!" I beamed, this was my baby. I'd mothered him to such a strong level that I loved it dearly and from the look it gave me, it loved me too.

The referee's flags flew up and signalled for an arena change. Because we'd broken through the first floor early for a field change, we'd been stuck with a pool until the fourth Pokémon of either team was released. A new floor began covering up the pool and revealed an ice floor. It meant trouble for Salamence, but we had the advantage of flying. I looked at Shinji's face as the last of the ice as installed, he was eying my Salamence carefully. He'd only ever battled it as a Shelgon, and had difficulty with its large defence. Now I'd lost that defence I'd been blessed with speed.

"And begin!"

"Flamethrower!" I beamed, as the intensified flames blasted straight through the arena. Electivire jumped so high I couldn't see it because of the sun. It passed my mind that maybe Shinji had planned that all along.

"Draco Meteor!" I called again before Shinji could do anything. The meteorites thrashed around Electivire's jumping space, throwing it off course and eventually landing so it pummelled into the floor. We waited as the dust cleared, but it was cut short by an amazing electric blast firing rocks and ice everywhere. Salamence took to the sky to avoid the corroded pieces. The dust blew away with the aid of both the attack and Salamence's wings, revealing Electivire still growling up at my dragon Pokémon.

"Thunder punch!"

I decided retaliating with an offensive attack too would be my best bet. It could jump faster than Salamence could fly. "Dragon Claw!"

The two attacks collided, and if it weren't for Salamence being above and gravity pushing Electivire back to the ground, Electivire would have probably come out on top.

"Electivire is unable to battle."

"Are you okay to continue!?" I shouted up to my dragon type. Salamence's magnificent and majestic roar echoed out of the stadium as we waited for the next opponent.

Stealth Rock occurred once again, revealing a seriously weakened Honchkrow, clearly Shinji had forgotten about my tactic for flying types.

"Flamethrower!" I started things off, though I'd seen it as a Murkrow, he'd been training a lot more since his last appearance against me. I wasn't sure what to expect now he was being pushed into a corner.

He replied quickly with a tailwind, which stopped the flamethrower in its tracks and boosted its speed into a sky attack. Salamence just managed to swoop away from the ice before it crashed.

Shinji revealed his plan with Honchkrow with his one back up move; "Twister!"

I knew it was risky, but I had to take it so I could surprise him. I was never one to push my luck, and yet I called; "Dragon Claw!" The head on attack collided claw first into the blasting dragon winds, pushing Salamence to his limit as he pressed his wings harder and finally managed to reach Honchkrow. It was far too fast and Salamence hadn't the strength to have continued that attack, but we were in close range now, and that was Salamence's best chance.

"Aerial Ace!" He shouted up to the two flying Pokémon. "Thunder fang!" I cried in response, both of the Pokémon did as they were told at lightning speeds, Salamence just managing to take hold of the bird Pokémon by its foot after it had landed the speedy aerial ace. Honchkrow flapped desperately in an attempt to escape before Salamence began charging his fangs, but to no avail. I heard it cry as Salamence rolled forward to throw the static flying type into the ice. The mist and shards scattered to reveal Shinji's latest defeat.

"Honchkrow is unable to battle. The round goes to Besanii!"

I grinned at my beautiful beast Pokémon, he growled happily back at me. Though he tried to hide it in determination to keep going, I could see how tired it was. I would wait for Paul's Pokémon before I decided anything.

"Weavile! Standby!"

I cringed, he had one too? This would make the next battle as difficult as this one. Salamence and I both knew we should wear it out, as were fully aware of the speed of a Weavile. My stealth rock got my plans started off, but it didn't look too bad at all. Not enough for it to have much effect on the outcome.

It prepared by crouching into the ice, its claws scraping into it to ready itself for leaping.

"Blizzard!" He swung his arms out victoriously as he usually did when he was fully confident he could win the battle. I gulped and waited for the Pokémon to begin its attack.

As the winds picked up and ice scattered around in a beautiful flurry against the harsh sun, I called my defence; "Draco Meteor!" It was definitely risky, seeing as it would damage my Flamethrower's power too. It did its job, blocking any major blasts of blizzard and scattering the icy floor into Weavile.

"Ice punch!" I heard over the crashes, and I knew this was it. The tremendous claws of Weavile lashed into the ice to send it soaring at a speed I could not follow with human eyes. One claw covered with an icy glove crashed into Salamence's chin and it collapsed with barely any struggle.

"Salamence is unable to battle, the round goes to Shinji!"

I could feel my hand shaking as I closed yet another pokeball. I had two Pokémon left and only one could keep up with a Weavile's speed.

"Go! Weavile!" I laughed as it came face to face with another of its kind. They both growled meritoriously at each other like they were readying themselves for a territorial battle.

"Both teams contain a Weavile and neither looks like they have an advantage on the other. This is going to be a pure skill battle from the reactions of the trainers!" The commentator exclaimed, clearly growing very excited.

"Night slash!" We called simultaneously, as if we knew each other would. They set off like before, colliding mid field with both claws linked together and pressing against each other. Their feet scraped into the ice, pushing their limits as far as they could. Eventually both of their feet gave in and they had to break apart.

"Ice punch to the knees!" Shinji called, a very sneaky attack, but my Weavile was fast too. It only scraped mine's foot a little.

My Weavile landed awkwardly, leaving it open for attack. Shinji saw this too and called for a blizzard. Though it didn't harm my Weavile too much, it restricted our movement. I became panicked and used my back up far too early before I really needed it; "Brick break!" It sliced through the snow and towards his Weavile, but it burrowed underground and through the ice.

I hadn't thought of finding a strong special attack for Weavile, we'd never needed it because it was a physical attacker. So we had no way of bringing his Weavile out. Instead it blasted through ice beneath mine and caused it to faint.

"Besanii's Weavile is unable to battle!"

Shinji grinned at me, I lowered my eyeline as I knew he would know what my last Pokémon choice was. He would have his last Pokémon ready for that too, and so this battle needed to be short if I were to defeat it. I trusted my starter Pokémon fully as I threw my last pokeball, revealing my determined Raichu.

"Blizzard!" I knew Shinji was relying on speed to finish this quickly, but I countered with a light screen which deflected the attack.

Raichu looked to me and nodded with me; "Focus punch!" She knew exactly what to do, it balled its paw into a fist and focussed its energy into that area, then punched at the ground. The ground creaked in protest and the whole ice field shattered entirely. The light screen protected the majority of Raichu, but Shinji was down to his last Pokémon now.

"Shinji's Weavile is unable to battle!"

He looked at Raichu in surprise. Sure, he's known I had Raichu and she was powerful, but we had grown since we last met.

"Hariyama! Standby for battle!" He shouted, his voice frightened me but it was not him who made my heart sink. Both me and Raichu knew this was going to be tough, and very unlikely. Hariyama was a Hoenn Pokémon too, and we'd battled several. They were not easy opponents.

The Stealth Rock hit for the final time, this time doing barely anything at all. Hariyama brushed off the rocks as if they were pixie dust.

If anything, we had speed. I knew I had to take every little chance I had if this was to work. "Thunderbolt!" I cried, hoping that would stall enough time for a rain dance so I could start using more enhanced attacks. Fortunately, luck was on Raichu's side, and Hariyama became paralysed. We set off to rain dance quickly so we could land a thunder before Hariyama found the ability to attack again.

"Grab it!" Shinji growled more forceful than I'd ever heard before. Hariyama struggled against the thunder attack, but eventually wrapped its huge hands around Raichu.

I froze; I had no clue what to do. As the rain soaked into all of us, I watched as it used Vital throw, and it was a critical hit. Raichu struggled up to stand and we tried another thunder. It was easing away Hariyama's energy, but nowhere near fast enough. I was losing hope.

"Focus punch!" He yelled, and I did likewise. They collided and left them both struggling to stand again. This was both out last move. I was already proud for getting this close, but so proud that I wanted more. I wanted to win this.

"Close combat!"

That would finish Raichu off quickly, I hoped our one final move would make us come on top. I'd just love to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Volt Tackle!" My voice matched his in ferocity; he cringed away from my rage. The moves collided and we waited for the dust to clear. The tension raked at my nerves, I squinted to see first and saw they were taking a stand off. The whole audience was silent as we all held our breath as if it would make a difference. I mentally willed Raichu on, they both teetered, but Raichu landed first. My shoulders slumped in defeat even before the referee shouted; "Raichu is unable to battle; Victory goes to Shinji!"

The crowd went wild as Hariyama sat down in exhaustion. Shinji returned it and placed it in his pocket. I saw him walk closer and waited in the middle of the field. I sauntered over slowly, avoiding his snide comments for as long as could.

I saw a hand thrust in front of my face, and I looked up quickly. He smirked as I took it hesitantly.

"Good battle." He grunted, and my heart stopped. Had he really just said that? I coughed and squeaked a thanks as he walked off, and I left my hand dangling at my side as he walked away from the arena. I, for once, felt more victorious than I would have done, just because I'd gained his approval.

* * *

_So yeah...  
This is a one shot I made for my fanart I'd made based on the start of the fic.  
Honestly, I just love Paul too much.  
You can find the art on Deviantart, my username is Boo--Xo  
Hope it wasn't too boring, I just thought I should just post it for y'all to see. :)  
Oh yeah, that is the majority of my team, I don't use my Camerupt any more, because I use Shaymin Land forme. Nor do I use Medicham, but I love that pokemon so I thought I'd add it. I may train one actually... *Ponders.* But anyway, I love the other four pokemon! And yes! I use Salamence, Vaporeon, Weavile and Raichu. =]_


End file.
